Today was hot. The heat rose shimmering with the bright orange sun. No squalls clouded the sky; only very little lamb clouds gambolled across the blue fields. The sea smoothed out as though some great flatiron had been taken up in the night and passed over it all. There was no wind. The barest breath sighed past the poled out tight genoa from time to time, but mostly we motored under the hot sun across the endless flat silver-blue water. There was all day that curious air of expectancy unique to being at sea waiting for the wind. It never came. We motored on. Just after supper, after the second radio net of the day, zing! The rod sang out! Before we could reach it it sang again, then again, as something big took the lure and began to run out with it. The reel hummed, Lars picked it up to set it and it almost pulled out of his hands. I slowed the boat to a crawl, then came back to reel as Captain pulled the hand line out of the way..too bad, his favourite rattler lure had been snatched off the hand line! Suddenly the rod line went slack....I reeled and reeled and reeled til finally the lure was back. Lars pulled it in and the huge heavy duty hook had been bent out. “That was a BIG fish,” we exclaimed together. Secretly glad it got away, we realised it was pat 1800 and time to call it quits on the fishing for today on the Sweet Dream.
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